The biggest compliment that I can give to The Obelisk Gate is that I loved it just as much as I did The Fifth Season. Jemisin delivered everything that I was hoping for and more in this continuation. Essun is, without a doubt, one of my favorite characters of all time. She is flawed, damaged, and a reluctant participant in one of the greatest struggles her world has ever faced. Essun desperately does not want the mantel of leadership and responsibility to be forced upon her. She does not in any way want to be the savior that her world needs and whom fate seems to have chosen her to be. All Essun wants out of life is to track down and kill her husband, reunite with her daughter, and survive the season as it progresses. None of what Essun wants matters, and she has to step into her role no matter what. Essun's past has come back to both focus her on what she needs to do, explain to her what is happening (sort of), and forces her to face and accept her own powers; even the ones she had no idea she possessed. Essun's powers are gained at great costs to her and those around her that she cares about.
In The Obelisk Gate Jemisin continues to wonderfully build upon the world she introduced in book one. We get more information on the players who are interested in whether or not the destruction of the world can be reversed. The Guardians, the stone eaters, other orogenes, and the stills who are banding together in their own groups and for their own interests in order to survive a long season. Everyone has their own agendas and they aren't all wanting what will best for the greater good.
Nassum, Essun's daughter, is featured throughout and we get to see things from her perspective. Nassum also learns the hard lesson that love isn't free or pure. For most people, especially those like her, love comes with conditions and the cost of affection and a sense of acceptance has to be bartered for and often comes with physical pain. At only 10 years old Nassum is an awesome character with more reason and sense of self preservation than many adults. She's much more like her mother than she knows or would like.
Jemisin introduces so much goodness in this installment that moves the story along quickly and so excitingly that I never felt like there was a place that I wanted to stop. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I read this one while traveling, so I was forced to start and stop fairly frequently which kept me from rushing through and finishing the book too quickly. The Obelisk Gate will join the Fifth Season on my favorite reads list and will be read again many times by me in the future.
Happy Reading!
Monica
THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS... FOR THE LAST TIME.
The season of endings grows darker, as civilization fades into the long cold night.
Essun -- once Damaya, once Syenite, now avenger -- has found shelter, but not her daughter. Instead there is Alabaster Tenring, destroyer of the world, with a request. But if Essun does what he asks, it would seal the fate of the Stillness forever.
Far away, her daughter Nassun is growing in power - and her choices will break the world.
THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS... FOR THE LAST TIME.
A season of endings has begun.
It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun.
It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter.
It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.
This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.
I'm so glad to hear you loved this book two! I recently got a hold of The Obelisk Gate and hope to read it in the coming weeks. I adored The Fifth Season and am always skeptical of sequels, so thank you for assuaging my fears.
ReplyDeleteIt-was-AWESOME! I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks for stopping by!
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